Sharp's Power Conditioner Makes It Possible To Use Electric Vehicle Batteries As Home Batteries

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Sharp has developed a power conditioner (controller) that makes it possible to use batteries in electric cars as storage batteries for the home. The company says the so-called Intelligent Power Conditioner is one element in their Eco House concept, which consists of solar energy, utility power and storage batteries as the main energy sources.

In experiments, Sharp was able to squeeze 8kW of power out of an EV traction battery pack used in a Mitsubishi i MiEV – enough to “power electrical appliances in an average household.”

Sharp claims that it took 30 minutes to recharge the batteries, with the 4kWh of energy necessary coming from the charge controller in the Intelligent Power Conditioner.

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